Aerial ropeway transport systems, such as gondolas and chairlifts, are commonly used for transporting people and cargo. A typical system has two end terminals or stations, each having a bull wheel for supporting a rope, such as a steel cable or the like. Rotation of the bull wheels causes the rope, and the carriers attached thereto, to move between the terminals.
In order to improve the efficiency of the system, the rope travels at a high velocity. In many embodiments, the rope velocity is too high for people and cargo to be loaded off and on the carriers. In such embodiments, the carrier detach from the rope when they are inside the terminals. After the carriers are detached, they move slowly through the terminal so that people or cargo can be loaded or unloaded.
As a carrier detaches from the rope, the carrier must be smoothly decelerated to a speed that enables the people or cargo to be loaded onto or unloaded from the carrier. In order to provide a smooth transition to the fast moving rope, the carrier needs to be accelerated to approximately the speed of the rope prior to being reattached to the rope. Rapid decelerations and accelerations of the carriers may injure people or damage cargo traveling in the carriers. Tires mounted on drive sheaves are typically used for the smooth acceleration and deceleration of the carriers. However, the tires are subject to significant wear and tear during the acceleration and deceleration of the carriers.